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Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Game 1 marks the Phillies' first 2008 game on turf

The team that used to play on the worst surface in professional sports will need to adjust to Tropicana Field’s artificial surface, all-dirt infield and unholy white roof.

Another day, another article, another reason to second guess my decision to pick the Phillies in six. Over on the Phillies official Web site, Ken Mandel has a piece on the team’s preparations in St. Petersburg.

“Infield practice took on an educational tone,” Mandel writes, "with Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley waiting until the last second to snag grounders otherwise considered routine. Studying the bounces on artificial turf or when they went from turf to dirt became important lessons.

“'It was pretty bouncy,” Rollins said. 'It didn't stop bouncing when it got on the dirt. Sometimes, it didn't bounce at all. When they put some water on it, naturally, it will bounce a little more.' Coaches later wheeled out the popup machine for drills, allowing players new to the foreign Tropicana Field the chance to pick up balls against the roof's white backdrop. 'There's a lot of action going on up there,' Rollins said. 'The bars up there, catwalks and lights, more lights and more catwalks. I don't think it will be an issue. We're going to have night games, so the sun won't be shining through and making the roof lighter. But if you don't pick up the ball right away, it will be tough to find it.'

The Phils haven’t played a game on turf all season and only a handful of games indoors. Tampa was a 57-24 team at their unnatural home haven, the best home record in baseball.

Comments

The one fielder I'm not worried about is Rollins. He grew up on turf. I expect a few of those Rollins trademark slide pivot and throw plays on grounders up the middle that he made a living off of when he first came up. I'm much more worried about Howard and throws in the dirt. Luckily, between Rollins, Feliz, and Utley, he hardly ever has to worry about that. In all of major league baseball, is there a SS, 2B, 3B combo that makes cleaner, more accurate throws to first than this phillies team? Given there first baseman, is there a team that needs it more?

The stadium smells, too. It's not like the roof makes it cool and comfy in there. It's just a giant Easy-Bake Oven.

I'm seeing a lot of smack talking coming from Rays "fans," who feel the WS is just a formality for them as they've already played the best in their opinion. Man, I really hope the Phils shut their suddenly present pie holes.

I'm not pro- or anit-DH... but I am against both leagues playing baseball under two sets of rules. I've said it before, but until both leagues DO play under the same sets of rules you will see the AL continue to out-play the NL. Maybe not in isolated series (World or otherwise), but the trend will continue to be that the AL has more muscle than the NL.

I agree regarding the DH, except that I hate it. I'm not old school by any means, I'm only in my mid-30's so I've never really known baseball without it, but I just don't like the rule. I believe every baseball player should be able to hit, field and throw. If you can't hit a baseball or hurt yourself simply running to 1st (ahem, Chien-Ming Wang), perhaps you aren't fit enough to play the sport. Period.

However, if we MUST have it, both leagues should adopt it. They never will, though, as there are many ballplayers, including pitchers, who never want to play for the other league for the same reasons (pro or con). It keeps the AL teams better because you can never take a batter off, so subsequently the pitching has to be better, etc.

Everything about the DH is wrong, but I guess they felt that more offense would bring more fans. In fact, it takes more away from the game than it brings in terms of strategy and actual in game managing.
Besides, why shouldn't pitchers learn how to hit?

Beyond the Box Score is ranking the leagues best players by position according to various offensive and defensive metrics. They've done 2nd base and centerfield so far, and we've got the top 2nd baseman (Utley) and the 5th best CF (Victorino). Not too shabby...

The Trop isn't a baseball stadium. It's a television studio. Everything about it looks fake, even by dome standards. I keep expecting to see Johnny Carson throw out the first pitch or something. The lighting is so awful, I can't believe it.

CJ:
John Donovan compared the Upton to Vic on Si.com and here's what he had to say:

"Shane Victorino is a frenetic blur, a fielder who dashes to spots, turns around, adjusts, lunges, jumps when he doesn't have to and, all in all, makes an adventure out of a lot of fly balls that shouldn't be adventurous. He doesn't have Upton's arm, or his range, but he catches the balls he gets to and he makes fewer errors than his young counterpart."

Just shows you how much these writers really don't do their research before they write their puff pieces. He doesn't have Upton's arm or his range? Umm, didn't he lead the league in OA for much of the season?

"Your evaluation of Myers is also a little off. "a very poor outing in the postseason, followed by a very good one"?

2 R in 7 IP vs the Brewers and CC Sabathia is a poor outing? Hmmm.

Followed by a Game 2 win against the Dodgers in which he gave up 5 R in 5 IP, with one pitch to Manny Ramirez that almost no other hitter could've handled. This, after he admittedly got gassed running the bases going 3 for 3 with 3 RBIs. Hmmm."

Obviously, AWH, I got the outings in wrong order. The second outing was poor, the first outing was very good. And, Jason, I agree that they're all at least a little above average, but reliable and dependable just aren't words I'd use to describe these guys.

Has it felt like an entire offseason has gone by since the last game to anyone else?
Tomorrow is my wedding anniversary, hopefully my wife won't mind me taking the night to watch game 1 (like she has a choice...)!
So will it be Coste to DH against the lefty?
My vote would be to ban the DH, never liked it...just think if we had the DH in the NL, we would have never experienced "The Plate Appearance" by Myers in the NLDS!
I always thought that baseball involved fielding your position or running the bases, but that just might be me...

I hate the DH rule. As painful as it is to see guys like Sydney Ponson and Bartolo Colon with a bat on their shoulder, hitting AND fielding are part of the game. When I was little and my dad used to do batting practice with my brothers and I, we always had to switch off and take our turns shagging down the fly balls before we got to bat. Its the way baseball is supposed to be.